In this section:
Safeguarding children and young people is everyone’s responsibility.
The Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership (PSCP) replaces the Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Board (PSCB) and will:
- Develop policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area of the authority.
- Communicate to persons and bodies in Portsmouth the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
- Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of what is done by the PSCP partners.
- Participate in the planning and commissioning of services for children in the area of Portsmouth to ensure that they take safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children into account.
- Undertake reviews of serious cases and advising the authority and their Board partners on lessons to be learned.
- Ensure there is a coordinated response by the PSCP partners and others to an unexpected death.
- Engage in any other activity that facilitates, or is conducive to, the achievement of its objectives.
The PSCP provides multi-agency safeguarding and restorative practice training to those who work with children and families in Portsmouth, with specific training for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs). For more information and to book training, visit the PSCP website.
The PSCP will be working closely with our neighbouring local authority areas (Hampshire, Southampton and the Isle of Wight) on key strategies, while maintaining separate action plans. We will have a joint independent chair, and will collaborate to review child deaths, ensuring that learning is shared more broadly. We will also share our online policies and procedures.
We will also continue to provide a local multi-agency training offer. More information about the training available to school based staff can be found on the Portsmouth Traded Services website.
If you are worried about a child, or are concerned about an ongoing issue involving a child, please contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) directly on 0845 671 0271.
FURTHER SAFEGUARDING INFORMATION
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
Statutory Guidance (WTSC 2018) states local authorities should have a Designated Officer (LADO) to oversee the investigation of allegations made against people who work/volunteer with children and young people when the following criteria are met.
The person has allegedly:
- Behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;
- Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child; or
- Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she would pose a risk of harm to children.
- Behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children.
More information can be found in the one minute guide on the PSCP website.
Portsmouth’s LADO contact details:
Rebecca Paradise
Email: [email protected]
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023 (KCSIE 2023)
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023 is statutory guidance from the Department for Education. Schools and colleges in England must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. For the purposes of this guidance children includes everyone under the age of 18.
KCSIE has been updated and now includes guidance for sexual harassment and sexual violence between children in schools and colleges, rather than separate guidance.
Tier 2 co-ordinators
Tier 2 co-ordinators work in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Early Help team to help when cases are assessed as meeting a Tier 2 threshold. The co-ordinators will assist in identifying support needs with the family and act as a critical friend to guide the professional network in undertaking a plan of support including Family Support Plans (FSP), meetings and effective family plans.
Tier 2 co-ordinators support Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership training in Early Help procedures and advise professionals in the city about procedures, local support services and facilities that may be available for a family.
Tier 2 co-ordinators will offer a Return Home Interview for children and young people who have returned home after being missing, where they do not have a Targeted Early Help or Family Safeguarding allocated worker.
LA Education Link Co-ordinators
LA Link Co-ordinators are there to support schools with their most vulnerable pupils. They provide information, guidance, challenge and support to schools with a key focus on ensuring the right processes and practice are in place on a multi-agency basis to improve outcomes for children and their families.
Key responsibilities include:
- Ensuring that schools and the local authority have a shared view of the vulnerable children on the school roll – information is updated on a daily basis via the Insight Hub
- To further improve the working relationships between schools, Family Support & Safeguarding and the Early Help and Prevention service, health services and the wider network
- To be an allocated point of contact that school can call to talk through individual cases for information and guidance
- Promote completion of a Family Support Plan (FSP) and the lead professional role where the need is identified
- Promote multi-agency working and effective working relationships
- Support step-down and step-across of cases to another lead professional.
Link Co-ordinators are able to:
- Share names of lead professionals (LP) for a child and contact details of LP
- Share knowledge on local services available to support children and families
- Discuss pupils that school have concerns about, offer exploratory conversations and provide guidance on next steps to take
- Advise on early help processes and completion of paperwork
- Support schools to have an overview of cases stepped down to school as lead professional
- Advise on local training offer available to staff
Link Co-ordinators are not able to:
- Make safeguarding decisions, all safeguarding concerns must go through the MASH
- Complete referrals on a schools behalf for early help or social care or other services
- Offer case supervision – all supervision should be via usual school process
- Share sensitive details of why a case is open to early help or social care – this should be discussed with the lead professional
- Contact professionals on a school’s behalf
Contact details:
- North: [email protected]
- Central: [email protected]
- South: [email protected]
- Special: [email protected]
- Early years and colleges: [email protected]
For further information on the service provided by the LA Education Link Co-ordinators, please email [email protected].
Safe4me
As part of a commitment to ‘child centred policing’, Hampshire Police has worked in partnership with education experts and youth practitioners to develop Safe4me. It is a web-based resource and information library providing support to schools, partner agencies and parents with keeping children and young people safe and informed about current risks they may face growing up.
Designed as a one-stop shop, the free-to-use website provides a range of subject specific toolkits and sections consisting of useful content such as pre-prepared lesson plans and ideas, activities, advice and additional information from credible organisations. Features include news pages, campaigns, service directories and opportunities to share information or get involved in initiatives.
Ongoing development means that Safe4me will consistently evolve according to risks, demand and need, ensuring it remains current and credible at all times. It is important to future development and the overall of value of Safe4me that users have the opportunity to input their knowledge and expertise to the site, inviting users to share relevant information and resources they feel would be of value to others.
Please consider using Safe4me in the work you do with children, young people and their families, signposting colleagues to the site and encourage parents to refer to the relevant support section to help them, where needed, keep their children safe and informed.
Support and assistance is available Monday to Friday from the police education team via the Safe4me contact page.
Useful resources
PREVENT
For further information, visit the Safer Portsmouth website. To arrange an appointment, please email [email protected].
Prevent updates
A regular bulletin is published which reflects any local or national Prevent updates. Read the latest issues here.